30 MARCH EXTENDED FORECAST

30 MARCH EXTENDED FORECAST

Sunrise: 6:55 AM CDT
Sunset: 7:32 PM CDT

YESTERDAYS 4" SOIL TEMP - SE IOWA MUSCATINE 41, SW IOWA LEWIS 45, NW IOWA SUTHERLAND 44, NE IOWA CALMAR 43.

Temperatures will rise through the week. High temperatures will be in the 60s and 70s Tuesday then widespread High 70s on Wednesday and Thursday. These readings are the warmest temperatures seen across Iowa in over 6 months! We have to go back to September 27, 2009 to find warmer temperatures than what are expected this week.

LOW PRESSURE WEST COAST - HIGH PRESSURE EAST COAST.....This setup will allow sunshine to boost temperatures well into the 70s and lower 80s in a broad area from the Mississippi Valley to much of the Atlantic Seaboard and even into southeastern Canada. The warmth will build eastward as the week progresses. A storm pushing southward along the Pacific Coast could drop a foot of snow on Lake Tahoe and Donner Pass later today into Wednesday. In between the chill, rain and snow in the West and the sunshine and warmth in the East, the clash of the two air masses will likely spark a severe thunderstorm outbreak over the Plains Friday and the Midwest Saturday.

WINDY AND WARM - THEN A GOOD SOAKING SETTING UP FOR THE WEEKEND AS THE GULF OF MEXICO OPENS UP FOR BUSINESS....STRONG SOUTHERY FLOW HAS DEVELOPED FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO NORTH THRU OK, KS, IOWA, AND UP INTO CANADA, FORCING MOISTURE NORTHWARD. THIS IS CLASSIC RAIN MAKER WITH TRAINING THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING SOUTH TO NORTH. WE COULD SEE A PROLONGED LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DUMP RAIN INTO IOWA FROM FRIDAY EVENING THRU LATE SATURDAY MORNING - MODERATE SHOWERS WITH ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MORE LIKELY THAN NOT.......1+ INCH OF RAINFALL IS CERTAINLY NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION FROM POW COUNTY EASTWARD WITH THIS SYSTEM. THE SAVING GRACE WITH EXCESSIVE RAINFALL TOTALS COULD BE THE FAST MOVING NATURE OF THE ISOLATED HEAVIER BANDS OF RAIN/THUNDER - THE FASTER THEY MOVE, THE LESS TIME THEY HANG AROUND. THE FLIP SIDE OF THE FAST MOVERS? STRONG STRAIGHT LINE WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS......EXPECT NWS ADVISORIES TO BE ISSUED WITH THIS ONE. WE COULD SEE OUR FIRST SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OF THE YEAR FRIDAY NIGHT INTO SATURDAY MORNING.....

TODAY THRU FRIDAY 30TH-APRIL 2ND - PARTLY CLOUDY WITH GUSTY SOUTHWEST WINDS - CLOUDS WILL INCREASE FRIDAY AS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP WEST TO EAST BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON - TEMPS WILL RISE THRU THE WEEK FROM THE LOW 60'S TO NEAR 80 BY WEEKS END.

APRIL 3RD THRU APRIL 14TH.................

SAT 3RD - RAIN SHOWERS/THUNDER - GUSTY SOUTH WINDS - TEMP MID 60'S

SUN AND MON 4TH-5TH - SUN MORNING SHOWERS AND THUNDER - THEN PARTLY CLOUDY - BECOMMING WINDY - TEMP LOW 60'S

TUES THRU FRI 6TH-9TH - CLOUDY - WINDY - DAILY SHOWERS/ISOLATED THUNDER - HIGH TEMP MID/HIGH 60'S - (MUCH COOLER AFTER THE 7TH)

SAT THRU TUES 10TH-13TH - PARTLY CLOUDY - TEMP HIGH 60'S

WED AND THURS 14TH-15TH - SHOWERS

Severe Weather Awareness Week -- April 5-9, 2010, COULD BE FITTING DURING THE NEXT WEEK OR SO.........
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/news/display_cmsstory.php?wfo=dmx&storyid=21228&source=0